To make it easier for election officials, voting registers were often arranged alphabetically by the names of citizens eligible to vote. In addition to the name and address of the voter, these may contain naturalization information and date and place of birth. There was no poll tax on persons eligible to vote in Illinois.

Researching Illinois Voting Records

It is usually best to start searching for voting records (registers, poll lists, poll books, or electoral records) at a local level such as the city, town, or village and then try the county or state. Links to county pages appear below. Many are also found at IRAD depositories.

Published Records

Voting records that serve as a substitute for the 1890 census of Chicago and vicinity are found in:

Record and Index of Persons Registered and of Poll Lists of Voters, Northern District of Illinois, City of Chicago, 1888, 1888–90, 1892; Town of Lake View, 1888; Town of Hyde Park, 1888; Town of Lake, 1888. Office of the Secretary of State, Micrographics Division, Source Document Unit, 1989. FHL films 1730744–1730766A portion of this is available in: